hot salad & other stories: tiny butterflies

(Archive from October 3, 2022) It’s soup season! The weather is turning colder and outside smells more like fall every day. Sometimes when I have extra time on my hands, I love a fresh pasta to add to soup or just in a sauce on it’s own. I used to make a small batch of fresh pasta after school for my sister when we were little, and this little method/recipe is frequent still. Making the pasta fresh makes eating pasta so much more worth it, especially as we move into seasons when cozy dinners are on demand. I made a farfalline (tiny butterflies) with this, cutting a linguine width pasta into small pieces and squeezing the centers with chopsticks… but this dough works for any shape. I made a minestrone-esque soup with end-of-season vegetables this time.
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PASTA SOUP
Pasta:
120 grams/1 cup flour (AP, fresh milled, or a mix)
1 egg

Soup:
olive oil
1 small white onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1–2 tbsp miso
few spoonfuls of mixed fresh or dried herbs (thyme, basil, oregano)
mixed vegetables, cut into rough cubes (zucchini, carrots, potatoes, squash, peppers, celery…)
1 can tomatoes (crushed, diced, or puree)
a handful of beans, either fresh cooked at home, in a can, in a tin with tomato or olive oil…
1–2 cups stock or water
splash of vinegar or lemon juice

- Make the dough, either in a stand mixer or by hand: Crack the egg into the flour, and mix together with a fork. It should be pretty dry and crumbly… keep kneading. If it really won’t stick together, add a few drops of water. Knead. Knead until a ball forms, by pushing the dough away with one palm while holding down with the other. (See drawing!) Cover with a slightly damp towel or a bowl, let rest for at least 30 minutes.
- Make the soup: heat a large pot over medium-high heat with a few tablespoons of olive oil. Add the onion, sauté until the onion is soft. Add the garlic, sauté until beginning to brown. Add the miso and herbs, sauté for a few minutes. Add the mixed vegetables, tomatoes, and beans. Sauté for an additional few minutes. Add the stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cover, and cook until the vegetables are done to the desired texture. Add salt and/or a splash of vinegar or lemon juice to balance the soup.
- Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Roll out your pasta by hand or with a pasta machine, cut and shape it. Cook the pasta until al dente–time will vary depending on what shape you make. Taste the pasta around 4 minutes, it may need more.
- Serve your soup and pasta together, top with cheese, parsley, and always taste for salt!

OTHER STORIES
Brick House Bakery: I’ve decided to enter the NFT market… low trade value drawings of cakes. They’re classically super pixilated images, but themed with recipes I’d actually want to bake. The first drawing: chocolate cake, cherry jam, chocolate frosting, a dark chocolate drip, all topped with cherries.

Steak Sushi: I’ve been making sushi at home for as long as I can remember. With my parents, it was traditional fish rolls and pressed nigiri, and now I’m making creative Colorado-local versions, like grilled steak with herbs and plum bbq sauce all wrapped up in the rice!
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If you have dream cake flavors and combinations, send them to me! I need ideas for the NFT collection lol